Warriors lose fiery derby

NORTH Geelong has suffered its third consecutive loss, going down 3-0 against St Albans at Churchill Reserve yesterday.

It proved to be a fiery contest between the rival sides, with one of the main flashpoints occurring after half-anhour when Deji Omoboye was sent off after an incident involving Michael Anderson.

Warriors coach James Coutts expressed his disappointment at his side’s inability to make the most of its player advantage.

“I thought we started very well, we were in control of the game, 11 v 11 we were on top and then they went down to 10 and for some reason they lifted and for some reason too many of our boys did not,” he said.

“There were too many individual errors. Their first goal, whether it was a penalty or not, was our error, one long ball and we let it bounce.

“We had our chances, you know with 10 men they are going to sit behind the ball and soak up pressure. They had players who can hit you on the counter-attack, we need to be better, there is no hiding that.

“We need to be better in the final third, we need to be better with our finishing, we need to be better on the ball. Quite simply we need to go back to work; there is no other way.”

After going two goals down, the Warriors failed to regain a foothold in the match, with the crowd and players alike creating an intense atmosphere.

“It’s a derby, it’s going to get heated, we know that,” Coutts said. “People are fired up, I thought we controlled it pretty well.”

The Warriors will look to bounce back when they return home to face Ballarat City next round.

“Straight after a game it is very easy to be emotional about it and think that so much is wrong,” Coutts said. “We know we need to work and we know we need to be better.

“We will go away and analyse it as a group — the coaches and players — we want to play a certain way with a certain style. Sometimes it works and sometimes it does not.”

WE NEED TO BE BETTER IN THE FINAL THIRD, WE NEED TO BE BETTER WITH OUR FINISHING, WE NEED TO BETTER ON THE BALL. QUITE SIMPLY WE NEED TO GO BACK TO WORK THERE IS NO OTHER WAY.” WARRIORS COACH JAMES COUTTS